ANGELS: THE ANATOMY OF WINGS

PIERRE GUETTIER

The drawings were completed during a period of my life in which the subject of angels unfolded into spatial possibilities. During a visit to Chartres I was struck by the carved angels embedded amongst the secular figures within the tympanum walls of the cathedral. In these carvings I saw relationships between the celestial and terrestrial figures materialize, as if one could not be complete without the other. This synergy led me to a drawn investigation of the celestial figure as a physical and spiritual presence. The premise was simple: construe and draw an angel—the elevated figure, the body in suspension—as the subject. The early drawings situated the angel in a space of gravitational tension, but the mobility of the subject proved difficult to animate without overdramatizing. As the drawings developed, guided by dialogues with Sue Gussow, my focus turned to animating the structure with the joints, the articulation of hinges, and the definition of the bones. The physiognomy of the angel drawings physicalized from this grounded structure. The singular figure in a suspended state of animation defines the occult nature of the subject.

FIGURE 31

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Charcoal on paper